A new attack on the president - his marriage [View All]

[proud2BlibKansan]

The Obamas' Marriage: Can A Partnership Be Equal If One Person is President?

This coming Sunday's New York Times Magazine cover is emblazoned with a shadowy picture of Barack and Michelle Obama on a dusty stage, smiling at each other and touching, about to embrace. Superimposed over the photo is text: "The First Marriage - It's Modern - It's a Formidable International Brand - And It's An Ongoing Negotiation." Dramatic much? But then, we haven't seen this kind of infatuation with a First Couple since the Kennedys.

The profile of the Obamas' marriage, written by Jodi Kantor, stretches back to the early days of their courtship, and traces through the years of Barack Obama's stints in the Illinois State Senate and the U.S. Senate, his failed candidacies and extended periods of time away from home. The Obamas, the youngest couple to enter the White House for quite some time, have a lot of mystique attached to their relationship, mostly because it is not disastrous or adulterous, and the First Lady decidedly does not stay out of sight. But the saga of the Obamas' evolving partnership is interesting because although they do seem to prize equality, Michelle has given up more. And this is a story that will continue to evolve through (at least) the next three years, as we see whether the Obamas can actually swing what seems to be the impossible: an equal marriage, when one of the the partners is the president.

I wrote a few days ago about how much it irritates me when men use "having a strong woman in their life" as an excuse not to talk about their own gender biases (although for the record, I do not care about the President's all-male basketball games). This is perhaps one reason why I love Michelle Obama so much - she just doesn't let Barack Obama get away with that kind of non-answer. Early on in the profile, Kantor asks the million-dollar question. Barack hemmed and hawed, saying, "My staff worries a lot more about what the first lady thinks than they worry about what I think."

Michelle answered more honestly. “Clearly Barack’s career decisions are leading us," she said. "They’re not mine; that’s obvious. I’m married to the President of the United States. I don’t have another job, and it would be problematic in this role. So that — you can’t even measure that.”

There are too many comparisons to the Clintons in here for my taste (is it really necessary to try to figure out which of the Obamas is "Bill" and which is "Hillary" - they're different people, for goodness' sake!). For me, the most relevant part lies in the compromises that Michelle in particular made for her husband's career - despite the fact that people often talk about how she is an inextricable part of his presidency. In fact, Kantor writes that Michelle actively worked, during the campaign, to appear to be a charismatic counterpoint to Hillary Clinton:


more . . . http://www.care2.com/causes/politics/blog/the-obamas-marriage-can-a-marriage-be-equal-if-one-of-you-is-president/

The comments are especially revolting.